Clapping hands and thumbs up emojis emphasized their enthusiasm and I felt my ego start to rise as I patted myself on the back for a job well done.
And then came Geoff.
One of my best friends is married to the Art Director of a major NYC advertising firm. I had sent her the logo and was expecting the same rave reviews that I had received from everyone else. When she called me later that day, she said, “Hey, Jolinda. I’ve got Geoff here on speaker. He has a few questions for you about the logo.”
Gulp. Brace yourself, I thought.
Geoff had a reputation for two things. One, for being exceptional at what he does and two, for telling it like it is. Whatever he had to say, I knew it wouldn’t be warm and fuzzy.
“Hey, Jolinda. I’m looking at your logo here and I have to ask you, what’s with the heart?”
“The heart?”
“Yeah, the heart. I don’t get it. I mean, is this some kind of dating service? If you’re using a heart, it must have something to do with love or romance, right?”
“Ummmmm . . . ”
As the conversation continued, he proceeded to tell me all of the other ways that my proposed logo wasn’t all that I thought it had been. Sigh. I thanked him for his feedback and hung up the phone to tend to my bruised ego. Once I had taken a few minutes to lick my wounds, I started thinking about his initial question.
What was it about the heart that was so important to me?
Despite what he had said about it being a generic symbol that had lost its impact, I wasn’t willing to give it up. After reflecting further, my instinct told me that I was on the right track, but the rational part of my brain wanted something more than just a feeling. So I started looking into the origins of the heart symbol and what it traditionally represented. That launched me into a deeper exploration of what “the heart” represents to me and why I felt it had to be at the core of my coaching practice.
1) The decision to start a family is a heart-based decision.
When I was thinking about having my first child, my head came up with a million reasons why it wasn’t “the right time,” but in the end we started trying because my heart was calling me to motherhood. Maybe you want to have a baby so you can share the love you have with your partner with another human being, or maybe you’re tired of waiting for “Mr. Right” and have decided to become pregnant on your own. No matter what the circumstances, your heart is the one calling the shots, as you can feel without a doubt that you were meant to be a mom.
2) Fertility coaching is heart-centered.
3) My ideal clients long to be heart-centered women.
- Open-minded
- Kind to herself and others
- Forgiving
- Nurturing
- Self-empowered
- In tune with her body and mind
- Courageous
- Determined
- Hopeful